A new era in Labour leadership?

I try not to get too political on here.
Case in point, you have no idea how many unwritten posts would’ve started with that very sentence.

However, as today saw the Labour Party (UK political party, currently in opposition) elect their new leader and deputy leader, I figured there were a few comments I wanted to throw into the ring.

To the delight of many, and the dismay of many others, Jeremy Corbyn was elected as the new Labour Leader. His policies seem very down-to-earth and he comes over as being a “real person” with strongly-held convictions. He also seems to resonate very strongly with those who’ve become disillusions with politics in recent years.

His critics, for weeks, have been implying that Labour under Corbyn would be “unelectable”. Right or wrong, I think this misses the point entirely as to why him being Labour leader can be a good thing.

Being the Opposition is more than just being “that bunch trying to be in power next time around”. Labour MPs are still, as the title implies, Members of Parliament. The same goes for all MPs not part of the main governmental party. Yes, looking forward to 2020 and the next election is important but that doesn’t mean that the next five years aren’t worth anything.

Having a main Opposition party is one of the checks and balances that we have in UK politics. At least, I think it’s supposed to be. When all the main political leaders look and sound largely the same, it can be hard to tell. Everyone wants to run in a similar direction and nobody is really throwing out a dissenting voice. It mostly comes over as name-calling and blame-shifting. “Why you’re wrong” instead of “Why we’re right”. A small but significant difference.
Having a strong leader with a strong purpose will help drive the Labour Party (or any party) in a definite direction. As a part of parliament, this is important. Even if Mr Corbyn’s views aren’t what some would call ideal, they’re ideas that’ll get spoken. Out loud. In parliamentary debate. As he seems to be wanting to represent some viewpoints that are often brushed aside, this is no bad thing.

To be honest, though, the main advantage is bigger than just the Labour Party. His involvement in the leadership elections inspired a lot of interest from those who are usually disinterested in politics and who think their opinions aren’t worth raising. Jeremy Corbyn looks to have the potential to at least partially shrink the perceived gap between “politicians” and “normal folk”.
He’s got people interested in politics. He’s got people realisoing that, if enough people participate, you can vote in someone different than the normal crowd. Right now, I suspect we’ve got a fair few more people paying attention to politics than they usually would. Regardless of which side they’re on, this is no bad thing. Politicians have power, so we need to make sure the people actually give a damn about politics,

I don’t agree with everything that he stands for, but I agree with a fair chunk of it. And even the bits I disagree with, it’s a breath of fresh air to have those viewpoints actually being aired by our political leaders. Hopefully, he wil inspire debate both within parliament and about politics.

As to why I think “unelectable” is missing the point…
If political debates get more “real” and more average people start to take an interest and actually bother to turn up to vote in 2020, does it really matter who gets in as long as politics begins to gain the trust of the public and people think that votes matter? Does it really matter which group is “in charge” as long as we can start to trust the whole lot of them to at least engage in serious debate about the matters that you and I actually give a damn about?

Labour under Corbyn looks like it could be interesting. And I don’t think it matters whether that party can be in government (as nice as that would be) as long as it’s in parliament. Whoever’s in charge, we need a decent Opposition to keep things balanced and to inspire debate in the next five years’ worth of parliamentary decision making.

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One thought on “A new era in Labour leadership?”

I’m not a betting man but very few years something crops up that prompts me to say I’ll bet on it. And i wish I had out that bet on Corbyn because, in the early days when he caught my attention, the odds were sizeable. I reckon I could have paid off my credit card from a five pound bet.

But the point is that Corbyn grabbed my attention so much, he resonated on such a level that I woke up to the possibilities; what if he did become Labour leader, what if he did get elected PM? I publicly stated that “British politics just got interesting again”.

As for the other Labour leadership candidates, I predicted the order in which they’d come past the post and was absolutely correct. A bloody miracle, should have bet on that as well.

But the funny thing is that so many other people in the country had the same thoughts and came to the same conclusions, hence the outcome and the landslide mandate for Corbyn.

I too don’t agree with everything Corbyn says and stands for but l, at the root of it all, he is genuine and down to earth, he has conviction and seems to stand by his principles, he is not afraid to say what he really thinks.

When Corbyn talks about the working man, I have no doubt that he knows full well what a working man is. When Cameron and Osborne talk about being the party of the working man, I don’t they have the slightest clue. And I don’t believe them.

And “unelectable” – what happened to Gordon Brown? What happened to Ed Milliband? Corbyn is far more electable so “unelectable” is just the seeding of a populist ear worm and sound bite into the public discourse as far as I am concerned. It’s an insidious attempt to undermine Corbyn and, like some former chancellor in twentieth century Germany once postulated, it’s a “big lie”.

The Conservatives are probably licking their lips at Corbyn being I the other side, publicly it gives them an even greater target and allows them to show off their personal attacks and their nasty side. I bet though that privately they’re all a little bit afraid…

But yes, having this latest Labour in opposition will pull parliament in another direction not all the same but a different logo.